—
In 1880 he left his upper-class home in Saint-Louis for Montana Territory.
He worked briefly on a sheep ranch, spent two years as a hunter’s and trapper’s
assistant and then became a cowboy. During his considerable spare daytime
hours he painted, sketched and modeled small animal figures in clay (e.g.
Antelope, 1915). Although he painted a few exceptional oils and
watercolors prior to 1900, the vast majority of his best work was done in
the last two decades of his life. Typically the subject-matter centers around
cowboy life (e.g. Wagon Boss, 1909) and the Plains Indians, for
whom he had great respect. The luminous Piegans (1918), with its
depiction of the Plains Indians, is a reminder of the vastness of the US
West. Russell’s sense of humor and empathy for his subject-matter radiates
from his paintings as pleasingly as do the clear colors of the high country.
His bronze sculptures (e.g. Buffalo Hunt, 1905) depict the same
dramatic and tension-packed themes as his paintings.— Near the turn of the century, the Indian Wars were ending and the transition to reservation life was in progress throughout the Plains region. As the West of Russell's youth yielded to encroaching civilization, his artistic vision evolved away from stern realism toward a more poetic and romantic style. The image of a single mounted warrior was a format Russell employed frequently and it clearly manifested his nostalgic sentiments. Throughout his artistic career, he did paintings depicting a single mounted Indian, from every tribe with which he came in contact. Russell's thorough knowledge of Amerindian culture led him to execute more than thirty individual paintings of Amerindians from some fifteen distinct tribes. These included the Arapaho, Assiniboin, Blackfoot, Blood, Cheyenne, Cree, Crow, Flathead, Kutenai, Nez Percé, Pawnee, Piegan, and Sioux.
A comparison of Russell's single figure studies, before and after the turn of the century, reveals a steady increase in his technical expertise. By 1905, his handling of human and equine form had reached its peak, mostly because of his exposure to the New York art world in late 1903-1904. The simple horse and rider compositions over the next ten years reveal Russell's flourishing sophistication as a draftsman and colorist. These new skills would also be apparent in the carefully worked, multi-figured paintings of the next decade.
While critics may not have taken Russell's art too seriously at one time, they found the artist fascinating. He received attention from New York's professional illustrators who, charmed by his frank manner and droll humor, welcomed him into their ranks. Russell stoutly insisted upon his right to be himself. He dressed as he pleased — in cowboy boots and Stetson, with a woven sash to hold up his pants and he believed, keep his stomach small. His talk which was guarded and laconic when around strangers, flowed among friends, who regarded him as a master storyteller and delighted in his dry wit just as readers of his illustrated letters still do.
1887-1899 were formative years for Russell and his most experimental period in subject matter; he borrowed Remington subjects, compositions and figures as he worked out his own approach and defined his own turf. The Indian fighting army was Remington's, but Russell claimed the open range cowboy, the old-time Plains Indian and western wildlife. They were his West.
He elaborated setting in his paintings. Montana was home to him and he cherished the landmarks that identified specific locales — the Judith Basin, the Great Falls area, Glacier Park. One critic for The St. Louis Star said "Mr. Russell paints the landscape with as much fidelity as he does his figures…he gives a graphic description of the country which creates the rugged, boisterous, fun loving, life-loving, jolly men of the plains…" Those who champion Russell continue to refer to his authenticity rather than his artistry. Russell offered the "speaking details dear to any lover of western life."
He worked hard to satisfy the demand for authenticity but recognized, as he wrote a friend about his Indian paintings, that he had "always studied the wild man from his picture side."
Russell disclaimed any interest in "teckneque", mocked highfalutin artsy talk, and doubted that there was anymore to Impressionism than a desire to hide "bum drawin." But his own painting in the 1920's exhibits a bolder use of color and a painterly looseness that indicates an evolution (similar to Remington's evolution) away from the linear and the literal toward an appreciation of light and the way we feel what we see.
The core of his work is a sustained elegy in which time stands still. His images of the "onley real American", proud Indian men and women riding across the land they owned, of cowboys in their careless youth free never to grow old, and wild animals, buttes and rivers, and the rolling plains, will be there for generations to come. Through his art Russell speaks to us in the present voice, and what he says constitutes his claim to greatness.
— According to family lore, Charlie Russell displayed an aptitude for art from a young age, reportedly drawing pictures and modeling in wax when he was a small child. At 16 years old, Russell's parents sent him to Montana under the care of a sheepherder. The independent young man struck out on his own soon after, finding work as a cowboy in the booming Montana ranching industry. During long, often tedious days watching over cattle on the open range, Russell sketched the scenes around him. In the winter, when many cowboys were unemployed, Russell lived in various frontier towns and painted pictures to pay for his food and lodging.
Friends said that Russell also began carrying modeling clay with him during this time, making small sculptures during his spare moments. Russell likely would have continued as an itinerant cowboy and amateur artist for the rest of his life had he not met a young woman named Mary Cooper. In 1896, the couple married, and Russell's new wife began to guide him toward a serious career in art. Russell found there was a growing market, especially among wealthy East Coast residents, for images of the disappearing US frontier.
By 1920, he was making frequent trips to New York to paint western pictures
for an increasing number of supportive patrons. Russell rarely painted or
sculpted from models or from life, relying on memory to recreate scenes
from the life he had experienced. He had no real art training and little
interest in the formal aesthetics of art. Though critics often ignored or derided his work, the public loved it. Initially, Russell's paintings and sculptures documented his early life as a cowboy, but later in his career, he also began to depict scenes from the lives of American Indians and historical figures. Many of his later paintings express Russell's melancholy attachment to the unspoiled West and his dislike of the "progress" that had plowed under the Great Plains and fenced in the open range. Russell spent his final years in Great Falls, Montana, where he continued to paint until his death.
— Like Frederic Remington, Charles M. Russell was born to moderate wealth. Born in Saint-Louis, Missouri, Charley Russell[ spent his early boyhood in the Oak Hill suburb, in a half-century-old estate strongly reminiscent of a colonial Virginia plantation. The Russell family operated the most extensive coal mines in the region. Later, Russell's father became the president of the Parker-Russell Mining and Manufacturing Company, which built a large plant to convert fire clay into tile and brick, gas works, and rolling mills. It was the largest company of its kind in the US. Charley's family tried hard to educate him and resisted his urge to go west, but he did not like school and had heard too many tales from men who had been clear up to Fort Benton, and his longing was not to be resisted. Through all his years of drifting, Russell never lost his air of being to the manner born, no matter how disreputable his outward appearance might be.
Russell first came to Montana in early March 1880 with a dream of becoming a real cowboy. He was so captivated with the West he chose to stay and fulfill his childhood fantasy. During those first years in Montana, Russell received great encouragement from Jake Hoover, a mountain man who befriended him and took him under his wing. Hoover often shared his cabin with the young Charlie, sometimes providing food and shelter for months at a time. This friendship allowed Russell to experience the ways of the frontier life he would later portray so vividly in his paintings.
In 1882 Charlie landed a job as a wrangler on a cattle drive. He wrangled for eleven years, and while he was not known for being a good roper or rider, Russell established a local reputation as the affable (some said bone lazy) cowboy who loved to draw and knew how to tell a great story. As a self-taught artist, his sketches were crude but reflected an observant eye, a feel for animal and human anatomy, a sense of humor and a flair for portraying action — all hallmarks of Russell's mature art.
Throughout his years on the range, he witnessed the changing of the West. He saw the bitter winter of 1886-1887 end the cattleman's dominion on the northern plains. The days of free grass and unfenced range were ending and, for Russell, the cowboy life was over by 1893.
Prior to Russell's marriage to Nancy Cooper, in 1896, only a few of his works had been reproduced nationally. Although he was unsure of his ability to earn a living with his art, Nancy Russell recognized her husband's talent and promise, and provided the business sense and drive that eventually made her unambitious husband one of America's most popular artists.
Success did not come easily for the Russells. Montana offered few opportunities for art sales, which eventually led them to New York where contact was established with other artists interested in Western themes. At the very time Frederic Remington was getting out of illustration to concentrate on painting, Russell secured illustrating assignments and began to gain exposure through exhibitions and press coverage.
His emergence in the big time art world came in 1911 with a one man show at a New York gallery, followed three years later by an exhibition in London. Charles Russell felt deeply the passing of the West, the most evident theme of his art. This sense of loss touched him with an emotional immediacy. He was haunted by youthful fantasies, memories of what once was and by the evidence of change that surrounded him as an everyday reality. His work reflected the public demand for authenticity, but also the soul of a romantic.
— More biographical information:
Great Falls (MT) Chamber of Commerce / Charles M. Russell, Legacy / Frye Art Museum
— LINKS
— Self-Portrait on horseback (1906; 429x301pix, 38kb)
— The Signal Fire (1897, 81x111cm; 671x1051pix, 451kb _ ZOOM to 1006x1576pix, 1218kb _ ZOOM+ to 1617x2533pix)
— The Death Song of Lone Wolf (1901, 58x90cm; 724x1086pix, 542kb _ ZOOM to 1086x1629pix, 1282kb _ ZOOM+ to 1629x2514pix)
— Spearing a Buffalo (47x77cm; ; 650x1086pix, 513kb_ ZOOM to 975x1629pix, 1248kb _ ZOOM+ to 1565x2616pix)
— Buffalo Hunt (1897, 47x72cm; 693x1086pix, 496kb _ ZOOM to 1040x1629pix, 1111kb _ ZOOM+ to 1617x2533pix)
— Antelope (1894, 51x84cm; ; 648x1086pix, 446kb _ ZOOM to 972x1029pix, 1056kb _ ZOOM+ to 1563x2620pix)
— Indian Rider (56x46cm)
— The Challenge (56x81cm)
— Return of the Horse Thieves (1900; 106kb)
— Red Man on the Plains (1901; 538x1000pix, 112kb)
— Illustrations from Indian Old Man Stories (1920):_ [Amerindian up in tree attacks eagle's nest] (800x559pix, 101kb) _ [Riverscape with Heron] (800x537pix, 113kb) _ [Return of the Squaw] (800x559pix, 94kb)
— A Quiet Day in Utica (1907, 61x92cm; 441x673pix; 216kb gif)
— Man Killer (1911; 423x306pix, 17kb)
— War Council on the Plains (314x450pix, 24kb)
—(061019)
